Jono, Ben & Megan - The Podcast - FULL: We Played Our Own Version Of Squid Game

Episode Date: October 11, 2021

The Jono & Ben version, with no fatalities obviously... We called a Fish & Chip shop and had to guess the price of an individual squid ring. Did we nail it? Did we survive to the next round? Who knows! We also caught up with the president of the Teacher's Union, Liam Rutherford, to chat about the new mandate where teachers will need to be vaccinated from next year, to help protect their young students who can't get the vaccine yet. Finally, Ben's new mullet has received some mixed reviews, so we read some of these out.. Eek!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jono and Ben, new to your mornings. Friends of Skinny, New Zealand's most recommended telco. Happy, happy, happy, oh, oh. Just when you thought you couldn't get enough of Jono and Ben, you can have them anywhere, anytime. Welcome to the Jono and Ben podcast. Hey, welcome. It's the 12th of October, Tuesday. Jono, Ben here.

I was just talking with producer Bee Humps about masks, you know, and the amount of people using them and not using them out and about. And it's, you know, it's recommended, but it's your decision ultimately, isn't it? Yeah, it's strongly recommended, right? And this is some places like you've got to be on public transport. You've got to wear them. But then there was that period, and I don't know if they're still doing it because I don't know when the last time I went on a plane,

and I'm wearing them all again. But you could wear them on the plane and then they'd come around and they'd give you a drink of a cup of tea or something like that and then you could take the mask off to have a cup of tea I wouldn't do it but I was like it seems like a nightmare it's really cancelling each other out here

so in one instance we're spending 70% of the flight with masks on but then there's this little 30% period where maybe it's the higher you are up in the air, the altitude, the less spread of COVID, I think. And maybe that's the agreed upon little time out. You know, sports games, they have a little

half time. COVID's like, you know what, I just need to kick back on this flight. Time out guys, time out guys. I'll watch a bit of the, you know, maybe I'll do that little quiz that pops up on the ceiling, you know, running through the field and then just as we're coming to descend, I'll be back into action. Yeah, right, and we're back on for the second half.

So that seems like one of those rules and systems in place that in 20 years they're going to look back at us and go, what were those schmucks thinking? Why were you doing this? You know, when we used to smoke on planes with the lash trays. There was a smoking section of the plane, apparently, and a non-smoking section, right? Yeah.

So like a restaurant would have a smoking, and the non-smoking section, right? Yeah. So like a restaurant would have a smoking section and a non-smoking section, which seemed like the smoke would be travelling everywhere. But anyway. I told you that story before. I was on Gold Coast. Went to a wedding at an RSL. You know, I love the RSLs over there.

I would love the RSLs over there. They love a surf club too. They do, yeah. On the Gold Coast, they love a bloody surf club. You go there, you get a good meal, you get some pokies, get some cheap buddy beers and scooters. We would do a wedding at an RSL. It was fun.

But yeah, we were waiting for the wedding to start a bit early. So Jen and my wife and I, we... Jen and your wife? Jen and my wife. All good holiday. It wasn't all good holiday. I don't know, I bought Jen long. You go, hey guys, we need to sort this out.

Let's get away for a few days, sort this out. We started playing pokies. But you know how they have like a row of pokies, one machine facing another machine, and you have your backs to each other playing. One side was smoking, and then the other side was not. Really? In the space of a metre.

Or a metre and a half. Tell you what would have chewed up your money faster, putting a cigarette to a $20 bill or putting it in the pokies? Because sometimes, sometimes you can put, you know, and it can just, just go. I'm not good at the pokies. My wife, she knows the size. She's very good. Sometimes we go into the casino. We were going home one night and she's like, oh, we'll just go into the casino. And she got to the point where she was winning. I was like, I got sick of her winning. I just wanted to go home to sleep. And she was winning, I was like, I got sick of her winning. I just wanted to go home to sleep.

And she was winning money. I was like, oh, I'm sorry. Wrap it up, wrap it up. Wrap it up. She was on fire, yeah. I found that before when the few times I have gone to somewhere like a casino, you'll get one of the mates who'll go off and win, and then you feel obligated to stick around longer.

You're like, well, I've spent the money that I wanted to spend. I'm done. And then you're like, oh, just get $20 more out. And then you're like, that's a bad call. I'm not much of a casino guy. You? I like the idea of it. Like, you watch Ocean's Eleven.

Yeah, I do. I like the pizzazz. I like the show. I want to wear, like, a tuxedo and I'll walk around with a martini and be like, hey, you're looking good, mate. Hey, thanks an ultra. But it's not quite like that all the time. I've been to Vegas.

It's a lot of fun. Vegas is fun. Yeah, we went there for a work trip, didn't we? We stayed in a casino. Great story of a producer, a radio producer, threw a dice in a man's face.

Accidentally, but it was, geez, it was a... Mid-game as well. Yeah. Geez, we've dined out on that story.

We have. It was honestly the one moment in my life, if you hadn't heard the story, we're playing craps where you throw the dice. Anyway, long story short,

he misfired and it landed in a ginormous man's face who as it turned out was a pro footballer. Big guy. Big guy. And it cut his face. He was bleeding and I could not stop crying with laughter. It was hard not to

laugh. We had to run away from the table, you and me. Which is not a great idea because poor Dan, the producer was wanting to give this guy, he's like, it's so bad, his security cameras. I don't need your money, I'm a pro bowler. It was just, God, I think I actually peed my pants a little. And I'm a grown man. I was laughing that hard.

I had to waddle back up to my hotel room. I remember, because I was like, I need to tell someone about this. And we got back at night. I phoned my wife, Jen, and the time difference was like two in the morning. I was like, you need to wake up. You need to listen to this story. Never quite as good

when you're not there, but it was an amazing, amazing story. And I think the thing that it bounced back off his nose on the table when he came from one, and everyone was like,

yeah! Which is not a great look. Oh my God. That story still brings me so much joy. It was. It was. I couldn't breathe.

You know, you're like, so much you can't breathe. But you don't want to do that in front of the poor man who's been assaulted with a joy. It was. It was. I couldn't breathe. You know, you laugh so much you can't breathe. But you don't want to do that in front of the poor man who's been assaulted with a gun. I know. He did run off to the slot machines and laughed. You felt bad for him. Like, I felt like now looking back, he would have... He was laughing at... I wasn't laughing at him or a situation.

No, we were definitely laughing at him. Don't try and sugarcoat this. I was laughing at the situation that, oh, that's his... Poor Dan, too. Like, knowing Dan like we know Dan. But he ended up with a giant plaster on his face. And he got free drinks for the rest of the night as well. Yeah.

Which I think is a bit of a play in America. If something doesn't go your way in a business, you can move that. They don't want to get sued. Yeah, true. So there you go. So we started somewhere and we ended there. And now you can enjoy the podcast enjoy

it is Mitch James Sunday morning you're on New Zealand's Breakfast John Owen Penn with you now the biggest TV show in the world

surprisingly not John Owen Penn Good Sports Thursday night TVNZ2 the final of that tomorrow but it is Squid Game

it's on Netflix and it seems like everyone has either seen it or is talking about it. It's all over social media. It's a show from Korea and it's very quite violent. You finished it

last night. You got to the end of it. Essentially they've rounded up a whole load of people who are on the brink of financial ruin in Korea and they make them compete in children's games. Dire consequences. They're dire consequences consequences Ben, they don't get more dire than being shot in the head It's not for kids

Even though they're playing kids games, it's definitely not for kids. It's quite confronting isn't it when you see the first game, what was it, Red Light Green Light the first game, you're like oh I didn't see that coming They don't know that that was the consequences as well. I'm sure they were more surprised than I was. They're like, hang on, we're playing this, and then what?

Yeah, so anyway, it's a very, very good show. Yeah, so we're going to play our own squid game this morning. Basically, we're going to find the price of squid rings on menus around fish and chip shops through Aotearoa. So the game is we phone up a fish and chip shop. Ben, you'll put your price forward for the cost of a single squid ring. Sorry, one squid. Just one ring of squid. And I'll be doing the same.

So we don't get them to tell us that, and then we guess, and then we find out who's closest, who wins, and who gets to live another day. That's right. And again, dire consequences in this game as well, Juliet and i love you know what i love the squid ring it's an item on the fish and chip menu that is often forgotten about but when you're in a group situation and someone orders the squid rings you're like oh yeah yeah they're an option and they're always a great option the squid ring and because you order one you know you're gonna get

three or four it's like the potato fritters it's the underwritten rule of fish and chips right so all right let's make a call uh to a fish and chip shop yeah we're going to go through the gore he's cool takeaways get out there mate how are you good yourself yeah good thank you very much can i just say we've spoken to a lot of voices over our career and yours is definitely one of the top five coolest voices I've ever heard. Excellent. It's Jono and Ben calling from the Hits radio station. Oh, yeah, yeah.

Good, good. Yeah, listen, do you have squid rings on the menu? I do have squid rings. This is wonderful. Because there's a TV show on Netflix called Squid Game. Yep. And we wanted to have a quick squid game. Now, Jono and I have to guess the price of the squid on your menu.

Right-o. The squid ring. Okay, so we're just going a quick squid game now. Jono and I have to guess the price of the squid on your menu. Righto. The squid ring. Okay, so we're just going for the single squid ring. I went too much last time. I went too long. So I'm going to scale it right back. I'm going to say, I'm going to go bang on a dollar. Okay, so don't answer yet.

Over to Jono. Okay, I reckon in Gore, they're doing, with the travel time. You'd be getting them from Bluff, wouldn't you? Nah, not the squid rings. Where are you getting your squid rings from? They come from one of my suppliers. Okay, suppliers. The travel time with the squid ring.

Might have got a factor in that. I've got a dollar. I didn't give you a TED Talk. I just went straight to the answer. You've got a factor in that. I give you a TED Talk. I just went straight to the answer. But there you go, John. You've got to factor in that. I'm going to go. I'm going to lock in 80 cents for one squid ring. There's a groan there. OK, how much?

How much? How much? My menu says they are $1.10. Oh! Missed out. I was closest, John. That's, you know. They were $1. I was closest. The Jollibee, that's, you know. They were $1.

I'm just looking at that. They're $1.10, so I would have been wrong too. They've chucked them up $0.10. I have squid sticks. Okay, let's play again. Hold on. We'll try a squid stick game. Okay, here we go.

They've got a nice spicy flavour on them. They're quite popular. Okay, a squid stick. Oh, jeez. I reckon you'd be looking about $1.50 for a single stick of squid. I'll go $1.30. $1.30 they are. Oh!

He takes one of the squid games. Sorry, John, I see every person for themselves. Have you seen the show The Squid Game? I have, actually. Well, you know what happens to me now. Yeah. You're eliminated. He's out of the competition. The Squid Game

will continue again with another fish and chip shop without Jono next time. Thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it. No worries, man. You guys have a good day. See you, mate. Yeah. Tested safe for listening from home. Keep safe. And that's all I have to say.

Thanks, Dr. Ashley. Jono and Ben all I have to say. Thanks, Dr Ashley. John Owen Penn. New Zealand's breakfast. Morning. Big announcements yesterday regarding schools. Schools won't be opening up in Auckland next week after the holidays. Teachers, of course, will need to be vaccinated for next year. And to talk about this and much more is the head of the Teachers' Union,

Liam Rutherford. How are you this morning? Yeah, really good. How are you? This is a real treat. Oh, well, nice to talk to you. I really appreciate your time. I imagine a lot of talk in the teaching community yesterday. I guess a tough call from the government because there's COVID in the community in Auckland and it's not going that great. But then for, you know, for mental health of the kids and the teachers and getting everything

back on track, that would be sort of wanting to get school started again. Yeah, I think exactly what you've laid out is why this is a relatively complex situation. On the whole, though, I think the education professions are right behind what the government's done. In particular, the consistency that we're going to be seeing across the sector. It's going to be important that parents know that when they're sending their children to school that they're going to be in front of teachers that have taken

all the precautions they need to keep themselves safe. But the other one that we're hearing a lot from the sector is teachers wanting to know that the people they were working with were also protected as well. And so we're right behind what the government's done here. There's a lot of, I know producer Bree Humstead, there was a page started overnight, two 28,000 signatures saying you can't make teachers get vaccinated. Yeah, I mean, like all professions, we certainly have a group of educators out there

that for a range of different reasons are nervous about what this is going to mean. And for those people that just outright won't get it, I think they are jumping down to the end of a process around whether or not that's going to mean they're going to have to find a profession outside of pitching. Yeah, right. So that's it.

That's the call from the hippo. We call him the hippo, Chris Hipkins. He doesn't like the nickname. We've spoken to him about it before. Yeah, but he still persists with it. Yeah, anyway, I'm getting it. Maybe it'll grow on him over time. Yeah, hopefully it will.

Hopefully it will. It certainly hasn't grown yet. But so he's just said, listen, if you're persist with it. Maybe it'll grow on him over time. Yeah, hopefully it will. Hopefully it will. It certainly hasn't grown yet. But so he's just said, listen, if you're not vaccinated, boom, you can't be a teacher. Yeah, that's right. I mean, I think that is the level of consistency that people are going to like out of what has happened. Now, we're really feeling for, obviously, a lot of the businesses around New Zealand right now. They're doing it tough. But, you know, the kids are doing it tough, particularly those, you know, I can imagine in Auckland

that are in their final years of school or their exams. I mean, how's all that going to play out, you know, if school's not going to happen for a wee while? Yeah, I think that's where we are at. I mean, there won't be a teacher around the country that's not busting their gut to get back in front of their kids because they know the best learning happens face-to-face. And we know that the science is really strong,

that the best way to do that is going to be around vaccines. I have to say, though, teachers are some of the most creative in society and they're certainly doing everything they can to get the most out of at-home learning. But I don't think we should be kidding ourselves that there's any kind of long-term future in online learning. We need to get back to face-to-face learning as soon as we can and as soon as it's safe. Well, I tell you what, Liam, I've taken my kids' learning back about two and a half years, mate.

So you've got some catch-up to do with the prior whanau. Oh, good. In actual fact, though, I mean, the research that has come out of ERO has talked about the resiliency that kids will have to not lose too much learning through this process. I mean, we don't want to lean on that. We want to get them back to school as quick as we can. But I don't think we should overstate some kind of risks to the long-term future of kids by a couple of weeks of at-home learning.

Do you think there's a worry for how the kids are going to be in a few years' time because of what they've had to go through? Yeah, I mean, we were dealing with it pre-COVID, and we know that COVID's certainly going to exasperate that. We are going to have to make sure that when we do get kids back at school that they've got the appropriate supports in place, particularly around mental health. I mean, what we saw last year was that we had this kind of honeymoon period

of a week where kids were just absolutely loving being back at school. But it was those weeks afterwards that we actually started to see some of the behaviour slip and some of the challenges that come along with being away from peer groups for an extended period of time. In reality, can you see Auckland getting back to school before Christmas? I mean, we've gone out of our way to make sure that we're not kind of second-guessing the science.

I mean, I just don't have the background to be able to talk about modelling. I know there will be a real desire from teachers to get back in front of their kids as soon as they can. But at the same time, they want to make sure that that's done safely. And so there's certainly a balance there. And I'm just relieved I'm not the one that has to make it. I don't know if you've just heard this radio show before, but what we do is we just throw out wild claims.

We have no expertise either, so feel free to do it. The way he's at it, he teaches you. You're in a safe space, Liam. You've filled me with confidence. I can confidently say we're going to be back by the end of 2023, sometime before then. Do you know what's going to actually happen? Because obviously there might have to be some changes.

They were talking about ventilation in classrooms and I guess things like assemblies and group activities may not happen. Do you know any of those steps that may happen when parents are going to be sending their kids back to school? I don't know any of the ones ahead of us, but what we do know is that we have looked to tailor

group situations based on the level of risk that's ahead of us. And so I think it's fair to say that as we do start to reopen schools, it's going to be a kind of layered approach as opposed to going from zero to 101 go. My son's been told if he does return, I think he'll have to wear masks. And is that realistic? Teachers having to become the mask police as well. Look, I mean, I could see it working, provided we don't get too caught up on the 100%. I think we have to be relatively pragmatic around the idea of a five-year-old wearing a mask for six hours a day. But at the same time, I think we can be encouraging them to wear it as much as they can.

And there's a certain level of education that teachers will be looking forward to do around how you wear a mask properly and encouraging them to wear it as much as they can. And there's a certain level of education that teachers will be looking forward to do around how you wear a mask properly and encouraging them to do it. But I think that's probably one of the things where we don't want to get ourselves too hot and heavy on it. Otherwise, we're going to end up making it a chore. And I don't think any of us are served

when we're heading down that pathway. It's like telling Aucklanders to sit two metres apart when having a picnic, is it? We all know, let's be pragmatic about it. We all know no one's going to do that. Well, it's like telling Aucklanders to sit two metres apart when having a picnic, isn't it? We all know, let's be pragmatic about it. We all know no one's going to do that. Well, hopefully they are. Liam, thank you very much for your time this morning. We really appreciate it. And all the best navigating

through what's going to be a tricky few months, I imagine, for teaching ahead. Thanks a lot. Yeah, well, it seems like it's, you know, it seems like there was so much news yesterday. We were going to talk about my baby mullet, my haircut. And it feels like, well, that's not quite as important right now.

Yeah, well, Ben did, if you've just joined the show for the first time this week, he returned from the weekend with a mullet. I'd like to say it was all business in the front and all party at the back. But party hasn't even started at the back. No. They haven't even bought the canapes for the party. It's a very small party, but you're not allowed at big parties because we're in lockdown. So this is the only party. It's a 10 person bubble party at the back of

his mullet. It's on our Instagram page if you want to do it. Juliet did a wonderful Photoshop job of putting your face on the likes of Billy Ray Cyrus, Damien McKenzie. Joe Dirt as well, which actually just looks like me. You look like Joe Dirt. You and Joe, much like myself and PJ Tiranara, have the same face.

You've got the same face as Joe Dirt. Yeah. So we will get to mullet chat before 7 o'clock this morning. We've already done mullet chat. Don't you worry about that. But yesterday, a lot of announcements were made. Well, a lot of things were said. There was a lot of words said, but not

really too many advancements in the world right now, particularly in New Zealand. Because Auckland is stuck in Level 3 with a number of unlinked cases. And Waikato and Northland are going to stay in Level 3 until Friday. Schools won't start for Auckland kids on Monday. They're going to have more information next week on that.

And top epidemiologist Rod Jackson said, hey, maybe don't make Christmas plans until the whole country gets the 95% vaccination. Now I have a question. Every time we mention an epidemiologist, we always say top epidemiologist. You've got your top epidemiologist Michael Baker, top epidemiologist Susie Wiles,

top epidemiologist Rod Jackson. I've never heard of top epidemiologists. There's a lot of top epidemiologists aren't there who's the toppest of all the epidemiologists who should we listen to more well he's saying

we should go out there and get vaccinated and saying it needs to get to 95% he reckons by early December nationwide yeah he reckons

he reckons that's the goal because there's been a lot of talk about 90% but he reckons 95% is the way that's the sweet spot it's how do you feel you've got kids, Ben.

Boys, talk to me on a personal level. Okay, open up. Sending the kids back to school. Okay, well, I mean. I've got kids as well. I'm not ignoring my kids. Yeah, I was going to say, you know that you've got kids. Yeah.

What a way to find out. I mean, it's, you know, like you don't want to sit here because there's a lot of, I feel for firstly for businesses in Auckland, that's, you know, they'd be really doing it tough, the people that can't open. But yeah, so this is on a very small scale. But I know that one of my daughters yesterday burst into tears when the announcement came on. And as a parent, you're like, well, you don't want to send them back to school

where there's COVID in the community. But then for their mental health, because they haven't seen their friends for so long. And I know, again, this is on a very small scale, but it is affecting the kids' mental health as well. So you're kind of torn between that and going, health-wise, could they get the virus, but also mental health? It's potentially doing some lasting damage to the kids. You do wonder the long-term effects of what this period in time will have on children.

Yeah. Well, even the kids every day, and this without, unprompted, and these are kids that are nine and 11. My one's coming out to go, what's the case numbers today? You know, as a kid, I would never be thinking about stuff like that. I was like, mum, can you pull the stapler out of my nose? Stuff like that. Yeah.

You know, so it is, you know, it's a tough, a tough, you know, and as I say, it's really, really tough on the businesses and tough on the South Island as well, because they are fired up and understandably so. The South Island Business Association producer B Humps he's from Fairlea so he sends us all the South Island propaganda on email he does he's a little South Island not happy about this mate but and rightfully so yeah why are they not back to normality they weren't even mentioned at all yesterday right not once no no plan for for you know for the South Island and If I know the South Island, there's nothing they love more than being forgotten about.

Of course, the other big thing to talk about from yesterday was that education and health staff will need to be vaccinated or risk losing their jobs, particularly teachers, particularly frontline nurses and stuff. That's going to happen pretty much next year. If you haven't been double jabbed, you won't be having a job. But doesn't that mean that there's going to be a period of children do go back to school this year? A period of unvaccinated teachers? Potentially. They have to get

weekly COVID tests. Thank you for just brushing up the fact I just said potentially. You're definitely not a top epidemiologist are you? A tough word to say epidemiologist. And when you say top epidemiologist it really... The other question I had too Ben Boyce in regards to the teaching community is how do the teachers know that if the children are coming from vaccinated

or non-vaccinated homes? Because they're putting themselves on the front line and in danger. They're not going to know, are they? They're not going to know. Actually, after 7 o'clock this morning, we're going to talk to the head of the teachers' union, Liam Rutherford, joins us. So maybe we'll put some of the questions like that to him. Actually, after 7 o'clock this morning, we're going to talk to the head of the teachers' union, Liam Rutherford, joins us. So maybe we'll put some of the questions like that to him.

How's that sound? Rather than putting them to me, I don't know, mate. 6.30 in the morning. You're not a top epidemiologist. Yeah, so they are some of the big things from yesterday's press conference. We'll talk more throughout the morning. And as I say, if you're a parent listening to the show, and you're wondering about schools, no matter whether you're in Auckland

or around New Zealand, we'll put those questions, any questions you want towards them after 7 o'clock this morning. And if you are in the South Island this morning, 4487, how are you feeling? Yeah. Let's get your thoughts on the radio. All right. Sounds good. It is the hits.

You've got Jono and Ben. Intelligent, thought-provoking, stimulating. Three terms that will never apply here new zealand's breakfast now everyone's talking at the moment about a squid game it's a netflix show and it's uh oh got to the end of it last night and did you yeah got to the end of it oh my goodness yes oh no no spoilers no you know spoilers but something i did actually read about squid game today is the director uh who was the guy that wrote the story and had been for 10 years trying to get it made, and now it's the most successful show on Netflix.

It makes you wonder what's wrong with that guy. Well, he lost six teeth while directing the show due to stress. It was just such a stressful thing. Yeah, she had six teeth that got basically removed while he was directing the show. But he said, in saying all that, you do it again. And he's already writing series two and hopes to have that on. He'd lose another six teeth. He'd become a gummy old man.

Oh, my gosh. Well, compared to what happens to some of the characters, I mean, six teeth, that's a walk in the park, isn't it, really? But you know they're not actually. He actually lost six teeth. Yeah, yeah. Hey, after 7 o'clock, you've got an idea how we can play our own versions. I was hoping you were going to say they got punched out or something,

but it was just due to tooth decay and stress. Yeah, yeah. Now, after seven o'clock, you've got an idea for our own version of the squid game. Yeah, it's the squid ring game. Okay. It's a lot safer. What was that reaction? What is this?

Can you try not to groan During the radio show? Turn your microphone off Yeah, okay I'll check out You're going to groan Groan in the corner You're allowed to groan

I know you're embarrassed To be on the show But don't make it audible We phone a fish and chip shop Anywhere in the country And then both of us Have to guess What the price is

Of a single squid ring. The squid game. Yeah, so will you guess it? Now, you have more experience in this than I do. Well, weekly I'm visiting Fish and Chip Shop, where they're priced at 80 cents per ring. Oh, so you already know that's where. I know that's my local.

That's my local. But they are tied up with the wolves and the fisheries somehow. So I think they might be getting their squid rings at a cheaper rate. They're a sea mart, you know, sea mart, the bloody fishing. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So I think they've got discount squid rings. So I don't know where I'm at.

Okay. Well, after seven o'clock, we'll play the squid game, the radio version. Will there be dire consequences? Actually. We'll do that after seven. It is the hits. You got John on, Ben. Okay. Day two. Day two. I thought about getting rid of it yesterday, but it's bringing so much

content to the show, isn't it? You know for content purposes he's going to keep it. Ben Boyce returned from the weekend with a mullet. It's tidy at the top, and usually with mullets you say it's all party at the back, but it's looking like a pretty sad party to be honest. Yeah, to be honest I didn't think I had enough hair for a mullet, but the kids, my two daughters, cut my hair on the weekend, they wanted to give me a mullet, so they've shaved. And it's a massacre up the sides.

It's all business at the front, all party at the back kind of, question mark, and a massacre up both sides. But yeah, the kids yesterday were like, what did Jono, that was all they wanted to know, what did Jono say? And I said, it looked like a prison haircut. That's what he said. And they were like, what does that mean? I mean, the haircut's left me with more questions.

Do you need it? Yeah, yeah. You know how there are those dinosaurs that have the spikes all along the back? It kind of looks like that. A little bit. Stegosaurus. I've got it on my social media. We put it on the Hitspring for social media and now we've

trawled through the internet. The always positive internet and looked for some comments on my mullet and we thought we'd reflect on some of those right now. Well, it's not often where I can throw the hair bashing back, you know. The last great sweet spot I had was when he turned up looking like Alan DeGeneres.

Dye his hair blonde. So got a couple of great months out of that. It's been a long time. The only time Alan's ever been bullied. Allegedly. Allegedly. Okay, Ben Boyce, you can read some of the favourable comments out about your haircut.

Someone's saying that I should have cut it all off to make you and I look like twins. Oh, that'd be quite good. But Fletcher Warner got that to make you and I look like twins. That's what I'm saying. Oh that'd be quite good. Fletcher Vaughan would have got that down. Yeah that kind of thing. This is the most Kiwi comment ever on my mullet. You know what? I don't hate it.

Isn't that a Kiwi comment? You know it's like well do you love it? Or do you hate it? Oh yeah. You know what? I don't hate it. That's a real Kiwi indifferent comment isn't it? There's so many people used to come up to Ben and go my kids love your show. And you're like what does that mean? That you despise it but they make you watch it. That's a real Kiwi indifferent comment isn't it? That's so when people used to come out to Ben and go, my kids love your show. And you're like, what does that mean? That you despise it but they make you watch it. Someone else has said on social media about Mahika, very impulsive decision. You should

have mullet over. Oh! That was quite good as well. And someone also said, good thing you're already married. And a Peter Andre. Yes, pop star Peter Andre. Well, Peter Andre. He loves us.

Oh, God, I love Peter Andre. We interviewed Peter Andre once. If you don't know our rich history with Peter Andre, mysterious girl artist from the 90s, Peter Andre. We interviewed him once, and we formed a wonderful bond. He's liking all our weird posts. There's not many comments on the Hits Breakfast comment on the mullet. There's not many.

But Peter Andre is one of the ones. He's put three of the laugh crying emojis next to each other. So what does that mean? That means he's laughing at... With us. With us? Yeah, he's with us. Is he mocking me? Is he mocking me? Have you trawled through and found anything else? Well, mate, you went swimming in the ocean with jeans on.

You start throwing stones, Andre. He did, but he looked great. I've got a couple of comments here that... Look at this one. Do your daughters not love you? Instead of looking for those two people in Northland, I think the government should send out a search party to find out who did that haircut.

And give it some time, it'll grow on you, Ben. Well, hopefully it will. There we go. I like it. I think you should keep it, Julie. I grow on you Ben hopefully it will I like it, I think you should keep it Ju I think you should definitely keep it we'll see what happens, we are in lockdown while we're in lockdown, it feels like a safe space although the internet's definitely not a safe space but I'm going to play this

just because I feel a close bonding with Billy Ray Cyrus now it's Old Town Road, Lil Nas X, Billy Ray it is the hits. You got John O'Mean. That song's for me and my baby mullet that I've got from the weekend.

It's Billy Ray Cyrus, Lil Nas X, what a tune, Old Town Road, it is the hits. Now Thursday night on TVNZ2 is our final,

the season finale of Johno and Ben Good Sports. Six weeks? It's only six weeks? So it ends on this Thursday. That's right. And we've got a really fun show this week. We actually went to a world I didn't even know existed, a world of underground robot battles. Now, we've had a lot of battles in our life, Ben.

Rap battles. Inner turmoil battles. So we're pretty good at battles. But we're joined by uh jack barker who uh who we met uh good morning jack how are you good thanks good thanks lovely to hear your voice again yeah it's good to see oh we'll not see you but you know hear from you um yeah well just imagine what we looked like when we last saw you haven't changed too much yeah no i've just lost a few more hair follicles probably.

Put it in clear. You're wearing a hat though. It covers it up nicely. Now, we met you and your brother building robots. And you guys basically build robots and then robots do battle. I mean, how did you get into this? Yeah. So, like you said, we build the robots and they fight each other. We started a few years ago now.

We went to Australia and bought some robots over there, and then we've been to China and the US, and then we got a crew together in New Zealand to start it as well. So just kind of growing from the initial sort of Australian competition, I guess. Yeah, so it's like the battle robots, and we went to your house where you build these things, and you guys are very creative engineers, and you can almost build anything. So you helped us build the robots.

And when I say you helped us, you did all the building of the bots. We left, and then we came back and said we're our robots. That's how it happened. So then we went to this underground car park underneath the Barker's clothing manufacturer. It felt all very underground rap battle-y, except we're all fighting these robots. And it was unexpectedly violent. Yeah, well, it's a really good time, actually. You know, like everybody puts hours and hours in to build these machines, and then we take

them down. We put them in this like bulletproof arena, and then we smash them up and see who's the most durable and the most damaging. And whoever sort of survives the longest throughout the day and can kill the other robots takes home the trophy. That's the thing, you're right. You spend hours, in our case we spent no time, but you guys spent hours building these things.

And then you can sometimes see them destroyed. In seconds. In seconds. But that's kind of the beauty of it, right? That's the thing we like about it really, is you either have to be the best or you get destroyed instantly. So it's really an arms race, and it's really people putting their best ideas forward.

So, you know, sometimes you'll lose before the fight even starts. You know, your battery will catch fire or something. Which happened to me. My robot caught fire. Yeah, a lot of drama. Like you had a fire extinguisher out. There was a lot of drama. I don't know if the fire extinguisher was required,

but I got it out anyway because I knew it would be a good little drama piece for the promo. And it turns out they have used it as a drama piece for the promo. But if I'd liken it to anything, it would be like UFC fighting, but with robots. So there's less injuries caused to yourselves, not to the robots, obviously. And this has taken you and your friends abroad,

and you won an international show. Like, you go to America, and you're a celebrity over there, Jack. Well, not as big as you guys. Minus celebrities, I guess. Oh, jeez, I tell you what, our US audience, you should see those numbers, buddy. No, but you're right. You guys, you know, there was a New Zealand team

on a massive show that does this. Yeah, I mean, our team competes on BattleBots, which is on Discovery Channel. Yeah, we won the 2020 season. So yeah, we won it. So we were the world champions for 2020. Yeah, that's, I mean, that's aired to millions of people worldwide. So... A huge, like

for a little New Zealand team to go on and win a show like that, I don't think we certainly didn't realise the gravitas of the whole thing until we saw it on the show that you played us. But you went back this year to defend your title. Has the show aired? It hasn't aired yet.

So it'll start airing sort of towards the end of the year and early next year. So no, let us say how it went just yet. It's all secret squirrel. Okay, blink twice if you won. We can't say. It's a remarkable achievement and you'd blink twice if you won. We can't see him. Okay, I see. It's a remarkable achievement, and you'd never know.

We'd never knew. You'd never know. And Jack, also really interesting, you work for Microsoft. Well, not anymore. Oh, no, he lost his job at Microsoft. No, no, I switched to Amazon in New Zealand. Oh, Amazon. I got sick of international hours.

Yes, thankfully. With Bezos. Have you asked Bezos for a flight up to space? I haven't, actually. I haven't yet to meet him. I would like to meet the man and ask him myself, actually, but the company's pretty big, so.

You can help build the rocket. Well, surely he's on your group email. If you just type in Jeff Bezos, he'll come up on your email program. Yeah, I'll just do a company-wide email. Hey, Bezos. Oh, Jack, it was so much fun hanging out with you and your brother and your family. And I can't wait for people to see us taking part in the robot wars, the robot battle this week.

It was so awesome to have you guys, and you guys did so well. So, yeah, it'll be fun to see what happens on the show. Now, some would say that this is just filler content to suck up some time before we go to the news. And I would say to those people, hey, you're probably right. But we love it anyway. Juliet, without a computer, is now going to broadcast the Spy Entertainment News Update.

So Captain Kirk, a.k.a. William Shatner, who is 90 years old, was due to go to space today in Jeff Bezos' phallic-looking rocket. But they have had to delay it by 24 hours because space apparently has high-forecast winds. So the winds are just too dangerous for the rocket to go up at the moment. So they're going to be doing it tomorrow or probably maybe in the next 12 hours or so. But he is going up with three other crew members and he's done a few interviews all in their space suits. They look very official. And why it's important for him at 90 years old to be going to space.

Because I wanted to claim that I was the oldest person that went into space. What a thing to have. He's the oldest guy that went into space. I want to have the vision. I want to see space. I want to see the Earth. I want to see what we need to do to save Earth. I want to have a perspective that hasn't been shown to me before.

That's what I'm interested in seeing. He sounds good. I know. Look at him. He looks great. And he sounds so on to it. When I look here at 90, I don't expect him to go end me now, David Seymour.

You know, he sounds And he looks great too. He looks about 70. Yeah, he looks incredible. That's so good. He could go back to space once he's like 110. Like I wouldn't be surprised if he lives that long because at the rate that he's going, phenomenal.

Let's do a vote on which billionaire has the best spacesuits. Now, I'm going to put my weight behind Richard Branson. He's come on board with Under Armour and they have some sort of futuristic looking blue. Oh, cool. He's got some good ones, although Bezos

has got some pretty good spacesuits. What's he running? Bezos spacesuit. I think he's blue as well. I think they might I feel like blue is the colour. Yeah, blue. He's blue. He's got a blue zip up. It's kind of like a mechanics overall situation, Bezos. I'll be running a sort of green squid game

one just to sort of put the astronauts off a bit. What's going to happen up here? Why have we got numbers on our... Why are their helmets red? Elon Musk, I think Elon Musk has got sort of quite a clingy, a clingy sort of morph suit sort of... Ooh. Ooh.

Interesting. Yeah, no, I think, yeah, well, whoever's winning the race in the fashion and space, definitely Branson in my eyes. So that'll be happening tomorrow. I'm very excited to see that take off, and hopefully they return safely. And speaking of Squid Games, Ben...

If not, he didn't have long to go anyway. But geez, he looked great. That's probably why he's doing it. He's probably like, well... You're 90. What a way to go out. And speaking of Squid Game, a real-life Squid Game is happening in Abu Dhabi

today or tomorrow or something. Without the murders, of course. Don't worry. Don't worry. It's all safe. So 30 people are going to be participating in four of the games from the show. They will be dressed like the characters in sort of their green tracksuits. And it will be run by the creepy people in the pink suits with the masks on.

They're going to be playing Red Light, Green Light, the Glass Stepping Stones game, the Honeycomb game, and the Marbles game. Those who get eliminated will just, you know, safely sit to the side and watch the rest of the games play out. So like a team-building activity sort of thing. Boring! Where's the jeopardy?

And there's no money up for grabs, unfortunately. But the idea behind this real-life interpretation of the show is to encourage people to learn more about Korean culture and children's games in Korea. Well, don't I feel like a monster now? Yeah. So that'll be exciting to see how that pans out as well. And that is Spy.

Thanks to McDonald's, you can download the app to play the Monopoly game at Macca's. After 7 o'clock, we want to gauge the mood of the nation. Things seem a little tense out there. We want to find out how yesterday's announcements affected you. We'll get to that after 7 o'clock. We want to gauge the mood of the nation. Things seem a little tense out there. We want to find out how yesterday's announcements affected you. We'll get to that after 7 o'clock. It is the hits. New Zealand's breakfast.

It's Jono and Ben. Got me in love. I'm the hits. on a Tuesday. Jono and Ben with you. A lot of news yesterday and not really much to report in some regards. Auckland's still stuck in Level 3 with a number of unlinked cases. Waikato and Northland staying in Level 3 until Friday. No mention of the South Island yesterday in the

press conference at all. No mention at all. And education and health staff will need to be vaccinated basically from next year, although lose their jobs. That's some of the I guess highlights of the press conference, but a lot to sort of talk more about with the mood of the nation. Yeah, that's right. We're going to open up the mood of the nation.

We've got the Mike Hosking introduction, don't we? We're going to go Newstalk ZB very briefly. I don't have that yet. I think it's on the main page there, Juliet. I said it with confidence. You did. You looked and pointed across. I sort of flung my finger at her.

Yeah, you're like, oh, yeah, play that little. Oh, this one. Yeah. PC bollocks driven by a PC media self-absorbed venal narcissist. Do you suspect anyone above the age of six could not have already worked better? Not in the whole game, but you should be because you failed us. Cheap, superficial, hopelessly disorganized. What was he?

A disaster. You're only doing this because you were caught out yet again. They are single issue nutters. Here we go. I'll tell you what wouldn't have done on Newstalk ZB was wait for us to play that. Hoski would have just flung his finger and had it played. I'd be fired by now. He'd be out the door. You would not work in this town again. Luckily we're a bit

more forgiving here. But yes, 0800 the hits. We're going to open up our Newstalk ZB phone lines. The mood of the nation. You call us, tell us how youstalk ZB phone lines. The mood of the nation. You call us, tell us how you're feeling. Are you in the South Island? Are you feeling frustrated? Are you a parent of kids in Auckland and you're not sure about sending them back to school? Talk to me about you.

How are you feeling? We'll get to that next. Are you a teacher? You're not going to tell me how you're feeling now? Well, because, you know, I'll point my finger and I'll do that next, all right? How's that sound next? And there's the hits you got, Jono and Ben. Go hard, go ooey.

Go hard and ooey. Hard and ooey the hits you got, Jono and Ben. Go hard, go early. Go hard and early. Hard and early. Go hard. With Jono and Ben. New Zealand's breakfast. There was a big press conference announcement yesterday from the government. And are we going to put Newstalk ZB this morning? PC bollocks driven by PC media.

Self-absorbed, venal narcissist. Do you suspect anyone above the age of six could not have already worked that out? Not in the false game, but you should be because you failed us. Cheap, superficial, hopelessly disorganised. What was he? A disaster. You're only doing this because you were caught out yet again. They are single-issue nutters.

There you go. Classic roasting there from Hosking on a montage of different yeses. So we wanted to know the mood of the nation. There's a lot of things. There's a lot of frustration, it seems to be out there. You know, the South Island weren't even mentioned yesterday and a lot of frustration that they're kind of stuck in limbo and had no COVID for a while.

There was big news about the education and health staff needing to be vaccinated or they'll lose their jobs, it sounds like, next year. And a lot of worry also about kids, when they'll be able to go back to school in Auckland. A lot of parents are like, when's that going to happen? And when it does, will it be safe for the kids to go back? A lot of concern, a lot of worry, a lot of fear out of there and

we're just going to stir that pot a little bit now on the radio. I just want to reflect. It's a reflection, that's right. It feels weird to ignore this. We're going to talk about what's in Juliet's car and we're like, we can't talk about this. We bumped it. Sometimes smoke screening's fun though, Ben, pretending that stuff's not not important. We bumped it. It's not important. Sometimes smoke screening's fun

though, Ben, pretending that stuff's not going on. We'll start with Amy in Whangarei. Welcome, how are you? Yeah, not very happy this morning. Mood of the nation. What's going on? What's up? I'm an early childhood teacher and I'm on the vegetarian.

And I don't think that we should be made to have the vaccine. It's just terrible. And there's people that are stressing out. There's a massive shortage of early childhood teachers, teachers in general. And now we're going to lose even more because our choice has been taken away by having to get this vaccine. Yeah, it's just really unfair. Our body, we should be able to choose whether we have to have this vaccine or not.

So you, if you don't mind me asking, are you going to get the vaccine? Have you had the vaccine? I have to get the vaccine. Yeah, right. Because I'm an early childhood teacher. Yeah, it's just ridiculous. I've virtually cried all night. There's so many of us that are so passionate

about not getting this vaccine and now we have to get it to feed our children, to pay our mortgages, to pay our rent. It's just awful. I'm sorry to hear that you've been crying, but I guess from the government's point of view, do you see that it's a lot safer for the kids to have vaccinated teachers in early childhood and at schools, though?

I'm not going to comment on that, because otherwise I'm going to get an inbox full of hatred. I have done my research. I've done a lot of research. All the people that haven't been vaccined, it's not pure laziness. It's not that we don't want

to keep people safe. We've done our own research and it's up to us to be able to make that decision. It should not be taken away from us. No, but you know what the sad thing is about this too, is it's created, not only is the pandemic hard enough to deal with, but there's also now a divide.

Yeah, there's a huge divide. Between people who have been vaccinated and who are questioning it. Yeah, I was talking to somebody yesterday and they had a conversation with another person and they said that if people don't vaccinate, oh well, they should die. Oh, jeez, yeah. You know, like, that's really sad to hear.

There's a lot of fear out there, I guess, a worry from the virus and then a worry about jobs and everything like that, so I guess, yeah. Yeah. But now there's jobs going up already in Whangarei overnight. Like I've just seen one on Trade Me this morning and there's going to be so many jobs and there's already a massive shortage of early childhood and teachers out there.

And now this is just going to make it so much harder. What about our poor parents that have to go to work, that have to pay their mortgages, that have to pay their bills because, you know, things are so expensive, you know, and now they're going to have, they're not going to have enough teachers to be able to teach their children, you know, so that they

can go to work, so that they can get money to pay their bills. Well, do you know what, Amy, we're going to talk to the head of the teachers' union very shortly as well, Liam Rutherford, okay? Yeah, I would love to hear that. Yeah, the teachers' union very shortly as well, Liam Rutherford. Okay? Yeah. Get his thoughts. I would love to hear that. He'll be joining us before 8 o'clock this morning.

Yeah. Thanks, guys. Have a great day. Amy, take care of yourself. Yeah. Now, we've got President on the phone from the South Island. How are you feeling in the South, Prez? Well, everyone's just doing their own thing anyway.

Like, no one's policing it. Yeah, it's just more of a hassle than anything, really. Yeah, and businesses can't get up and running. It's back in a normal mode of operation, I imagine, too. And a team of five million, buddy. We're all in this together. Five million? No, no.

A team of three and a half million money revolves around Auckland, doesn't it? Yeah, well, you could be your own team of 1.38 million in the South Island. It must have been salt in the wounds yesterday though that they didn't even bring up the South Island during the press conference. We don't care about that we just want to get back to normal. They're putting restrictions on us and the whole time that this is going on

we're at the risk of getting COVID back into the South Island because anyone can come down here. Except for us in Auckland, but you're right the rest of because anyone can come down here. Except for us in Auckland. But you're right. You're right. The rest of New Zealand can't travel. Yeah.

I'd actually be interested to find out how many of these bloody MPs have been vaccinated and how many of them are still going to work. And they're running around like a bunch of clowns with big red noses on. Bunch of clowns. That's what they are. A bunch of clowns running around the beehive. Are you calling for a carve it off at the Cook Strait, South Island becomes its own republic?

Bloody oats. It's a North Korea, South Korea situation. For my pay, yeah. Yeah, but I haven't got a weird haircut. We could be run by the dictator in the North. You've already got her. Yeah, so the Herald did an article a couple of weeks ago about EMPs. Four EMPs apparently hadn't had their first dose, their first shot.

So there you go. Oh, there you go. That's not many, is it? No, not many. But that might have changed over the last couple of weeks, but I haven't paid for premium on the New Zealand Herald, so I'll never know. The article starts to blur out after three lines.

It's frustrating. Hey, lovely chatting with you. Keep safe. You're going, move to the nation. Oh, yeah, there's frustrating. Lovely chatting with you. Keep safe. You're going, mood of the nation. Oh yeah, there's a lot of text coming through.

There is a divide out there and we'll get more of that on before the end of the show. It is The Hits. You've got Jono and Ben. It is The Hits. Jono and Ben. It's Tuesday morning.

We're going a bit Newstalk ZB this morning just for a wee bit. Keeping Kiwis in the know on Newstalk ZB. Not officially Newstalk ZB this morning, just for a wee bit. Giving Kiwis in the know on Newstalk ZB. Not officially Newstalk ZB, just a disclaimer at the top. Still the hits. Yeah, no, we're reflecting on the mood

of the nation. Why don't we rebranding ourselves as another radio station for 10 minutes? Well, then we get to get some of their ratings as well, too. No, we're also part of Newstalk ZB. Why don't we just rebrand the whole hits as Newstalk ZB? Coast off those sweet numbers, baby. But yeah, we're just getting the mood of the nation, Ben Boyce. And I tell you what, it's a bit of a different mood to maybe last lockdown in 2020.

There's a lot of frustration, right? The novelty has definitely worn off for lockdowns. There's a bit of worry for businesses out there. There's also rules that coming in yesterday for educators, for health care workers. They're going to have to be vaccinated or they're going to lose their jobs. And I understand some people are upset that the choice has been taken away from them. But then on the other hand, the government is just trying to protect

the kids of New Zealand as well. Get back to normality. We just spoke to an early childhood teacher. She was less than enthusiastic about being told that she had to get the vaccine. She's going to do it, but she's not really pumped about it. Sue, you're on from Wellington. Thoughts? Hi, mate. Mood of the nation, Sue.

Mood of the nation. Oh, I'm a grumpy mum this morning. Are you grumpy? What's going on? Hey, I'm really annoyed that people are giving this whole compulsory vaccine a second thought, the whole vaccine in full. I mean, think of the person standing next to you. If you're going to help them

by not making them sick, then get the flippant vaccine. Wear your mask. Stay at home. Just start following the flippant rules. Yeah, well said. And also, while I'm not saying flippant too. Flippant is such a...

I know. You've censored yourself beautifully. Family-friendly swearing as well, Sue. Love it. They're going to put a ban on that next. Yeah. Fiddlesticks. I was waiting for a fiddlesticks or something to come out there from Sue.

So, yeah, okay, I guess you just heard the lady before the early childhood teacher. She is getting the... Really disappointing to hear that opinion, eh? If my kids were going to her early childhood centre, I'd be highly annoyed. I guess she's going to get the vaccine, though, in her defence, but she wasn't that happy about the choice being taken away from her, I guess. Choices get taken away from us in a lot of things. But at the end of the day, I don't want to get sick.

I don't want my kids to get sick. I'm fully vaccinated. My teenagers are. I paid over $300 each to get them vaccinated against meningitis because if I can help them not get a little bit sick on something and save their lives,

then that's my job as a mum. Yeah, well, OK. I mean, there's a lot of frustration out there. Don't get me wrong. My swipe card wasn't working properly this morning. Yeah, not quite as important. We've all got problems out there, don't get me wrong. My swipe card wasn't working properly this morning. Yeah, not quite as important. We've all got problems too, don't we? We have, but they had a whole lot more problems in the Depression, didn't they?

They did. Now, they didn't even have swipe cards in the Depression. No, they didn't. No. It's Kelly Clarkson. It is the hits. You've got Jono and Ben. Now, I mentioned last year, I think, Ben,

there was a wonderful gentleman in the gymnasium that I frequent. I don't frequent it. It sounds like I am. You've got a good excuse now. The gym's unopened. Yeah, it's wonderful. That's the good thing about a lockdown too is, you know, there's no reason that you need to go there, is there?

I do feel sorry for the gyms. We kind of forget about the gyms. You know, if you own a gym, you run a gym, that's it, you know? It'd be tough, tough out there. Because a lot of people, I imagine it would drop off the paying the subs would drop off. It'd be the first thing from the old discretionary income,

wouldn't it? Yeah. You're still playing your exorbitant Les Mills costs, Julian? Oh, no, they put them on pause for us all, which is really nice. But really hard for their business to continue, though, but it's awesome. Shout out to lettuce. And the Mills franchise. But, you know, I bumped into a guy that I mentioned to you in the gym last year where I got into a conversation with him,

and a very Kiwi conversation where we love to boast about how cheap we have purchased something. So I sort of played a game of the price is right with him in the gym. So he's like, I said, oh, you've got a whole new outfit today. And he sort of holds the shirt out from his torso. He's like, guess how much? I was like, okay, we're playing this game. And I didn't want to overshoot the mark because I still wanted him to feel

like the price he was going to share with me was still impressive. Gotcha. So I was like, 20cha so i was like 20 bucks he's like 10 bucks then i went through the shorts the socks the shoes we did the whole dance yeah it was a wonderful interaction but um i bumped into him at the petrol station yesterday in line two meters apart obviously yeah gotcha and the conversation went from zero to 100 very quickly. I said, how you been? He's like, not good. Broke up with the missus.

Moved out of the house. Oh, no. But that's really like in the space of time that I was waiting for the lady in front to pay for her petrol. And for me to get up to the EFPLOS terminal, this is the information that got out. Quick, quick turnaround in the old oversharing department, I thought. Yeah, you're right. And what do I say to that? What does the Price is Right guy from the

gym, what does he respond with that? I do respect that in a way, though, because I mean, he's giving you an honest, we don't give honest answers. Everyone's like, how's it going? Yeah, good. You could have had that. But that's what I like. I like, yeah, good, move on. I didn't really care anyway. Yours is a bloody good,, good. You could have that. But that's what I like. I like, yeah, good, move on. I didn't really care anyway. Yours is a bloody good, bloody good.

Bloody good, bloody good. No one wants to hear if you're having a bad day. Let's be honest. When you ask me, how you going, Jono? And I go, things aren't good, mate. I can see your eyes. You go into screensaver mode. You don't care. Don't pretend like you care. I don't care.

But now you just go, bloody good, bloody good. And I'm like, I don don't care I don't care But now you just go Bloody good Bloody good And I'm like I don't know I don't know if he's bloody good or not But he'll say it every morning Every morning when I come in

I'm like How's he How are you Bloody good mate Bloody good Is he bloody good or bloody bad You never know And that's the joy

Of just giving a quick answer We all pretend everything's fine But I do like You know like Sometimes it's not fine Yeah I know I know I respect Sometimes it's not fine Yeah I know I know I respect that

He's kind of come out there And said that Yeah A lot for you to do In the line You're like Do I What do I do here

Do I That was my conundrum Because I was like I've lost my mobile Smiles card That was my major concern Now I'm having to deal With a relation breakup

A relationship breakup Of a gentleman I don't know too well But It would be like If you went to a dinner party He'd be the guy He'd be like with a relationship breakup of a gentleman I don't know too well. But it would be like if you went to a dinner party, he'd be the guy who'd be like, have you had enough? You know, I'm fine, but he'd still overload your plate. He's a very generous, very giving individual.

But it felt like a very inappropriate location to have that conversation. But what location is appropriate to have that conversation to? Well, yeah, you can't have it at the gym can you at the moment so yeah unfortunately nothing like the raw honesty in a mobile petrol station of a relationship breakdown anyway i said uh well if i knew you bet he could probably come and stay at my house if you want oh yeah he loads of makes you bubble unfortunately not no again, I seem like a good guy again, but we all know we can't. Five words for 5K on the hits. You're only five words away from a massive payday. Our Game of Word Association, we play it every morning.

Five grand on the line. You could win by matching your words with our words. Let's get Chris from Tiano on the phone. How are you, Chris? Oh, good, boys. How are you guys? You're doing well. I'm a salami monger, a. How are you guys? You're doing well. Salami Monga, a

proprietor of the salami, they tell us. Yep, that'd be right. You sent some up, and it was really good. Yeah, I'm glad you guys enjoyed it. The venison salami was very spicy and nice. All venison, all from down south. It's good stuff. Yeah,

well done. How's the salami biz treating you? It's good. Yep, people still need to eat, so yep. How's the salami biz treating you? It's good. Yep, people still need to eat, so yep. Oh, that's good. Now, only five words is all that stands between you and $5,000, plus quite a lot of luck, a bit of an administration that needs to take place as well to get you the money, but what would you put five grand towards?

I'd say most of it would go to the wife, who I'm in shock and addiction, and then I'd get to spend a little bit on fishing gear, I'd say most of it would have to do with the wife and shopping addiction and then I'd get to spend a little bit on fishing gear I'd say. Alright, so you're going to feed your wife's online shopping addiction. You're going to do a little bit of fishing. Chris, the king of salami, who would you like to send into the soundproof booth this morning?

I have to go with Ben, the steady shore hand. Why is he the steady shore hand. Oh, boy, see the steady shore hands. He's got a May return from the weekend with a mullet. He's got to let his children cut a mullet into his head. He's got shaved up. He looks like a prisoner. Dad of the year.

Dad of the year. Yeah, all right. Chris, we're going to do this now. He's in the soundproof booth. Many questioning if Ben's daughters actually really love him after that haircut. All right, five words you've got to match with Benny Boyce. The first word that comes into your head, Chris and Tiano, when I say feta. Feta, like the cheese.

Yeah. Yeah, well, cheese. Cheese. Easy. He's one from one. Ironing is word number two. Ironing is word number two Ironing Like the ironing clothes Ironing clothes

Rightio, beautiful I like your mind, the way it's thinking too Yeah Because you're going for a natural follow on word Flag is the third this morning, Chris Flagpole Yep, nice, he's sticking with the system Party coming in at word number third this morning, Chris. Pole. Flagpole. Yep, nice. He's sticking with the system. Party coming in at word number four this morning.

Party. Can I come back to that, please? Absolutely. And paddle is the fifth word. Paddle. I would say... Paddle, I would say paddle. Ben doesn't really seem like an outdoorsy type. I don't know what type he seems.

He's really confused me as to what sort of person he is. I would say he's probably got a paddle board. He would have a paddle board. He would have a stand-up. I imagine there's a stand-up paddle board in the guy's garage. A stand-up paddle board that's never been stood on.

Yeah, exactly. And a bit of blow-up one, too. Yeah, it's the sign of your Champagne, Auckland wanker, a blow-up paddle board, isn't it? Yeah, so let's go paddle board. Yeah. And, um... Back to party party party was word number four there chris party i guess you guys aren't having much parties right now i love how vocal you are

yeah you're good talking through his thoughts yeah maybe um uh i'd probably say drinks but maybe then maybe friends yeah friends. Yeah, friends. You might go friends. All right, those are the five words. I like your train of thought, Chris. We'll release Ben Boyce from the Soundproof booth, also known as the self-reflection tank. The lock, not quite playing ball this morning.

I was going to be stuck in there, actually. How do we panic? It was the beginning of my squid game. Ben, there was some stuff said about you while you were in there. Oh really? Yeah, a lot of questions as to... I think nothing nice from you guys. Your character and...

Maybe not Chris though, maybe Chris. Well Chris was just trying to think what sort of words you would say. Alright. What sort of person you are, but let's get into it. Five words to win $5000 for Chris. Feta, word number one. Jeez. That's going to do it.

There we go, one from one Chris. Good stuff Ben, word number one. Jeez. That's going to do it. There we go, one from one, Chris. Good stuff, Ben. Keep it going. Ironing. Ironing. I got a couple here. Close for some reason popped into my head. I'll go.

Okay, so I'll go with that one. Thank you, Juliet. You're welcome. It was an ironing board. It was good. How is the Dalai Lama of salami going? Are you feeling good, Chris? Pretty good.

I'm regretting number four, but that's all right. Okay. Flag coming at word number three, Ben. Hole. Nice work. You're doing things to Chris's salami. There's salami. There's some movement.

Word number four. Party. Was this the tricky one? Yeah, you weren't too confident on this one, Chris. I can see there's options. Birthday? Birthday party? I knew it! I was thinking of it

and seeing it and seeing it! Oh, buddy! He was a bit caught on that one. You went friends, didn't you, Chris? Oh, yeah. It's a tough one. Party's options. Lots of options. Not bad. You played a good game up until then. The fifth word was paddle. Or?

Paddleboard. We had a huge debate as to whether you were... Paddleboard, yeah, that's good. Yeah, whether you had a blow-up paddleboard in your garage somewhere, and I was like, he seems like the paddleboard type of guy. But he never would have used that paddleboard. I did think about getting one. My wife talked me out of it.

She's like, don't be one of those. The Head Spy with McDonald's Monopoly. Peel and scan your way to over $107 million in prizes. For breakfast every morning, she likes avocado on toast with a hot cup of celebrity. Juliet, what's going on in Spy? So Billie Eilish, in case you missed it, she has announced a second Auckland show next year

due to overwhelming demand for her first show. So they're going to be on September 8th and September 9th, 2022 at Spark Arena. Hey! Spark Arena! Do you know what's really interesting about having all of these shows? You know, your Dua Lipa's in November, your Guns N' Roses' in December. You know, hopefully we'll still all like these artists in a year's time. You know, trends and things move quickly.

Oh my goodness. It's kind of cool that people are buying tickets so quickly, you know, Dua Lipa put on a second show Billie Eilish did as well, you know, in the world right now where you're like, you can't even hang out with more than 10 people. It seems quite weird to be in a stadium full of people but it's awesome to have that positivity that we can go back to.

A little bit of hope, Ben. That's right. It's good to have something to look forward to, you know. I've got tickets for two concerts that have just been delayed and delayed and delayed and I'm like, well I love this artist so I'm just going to keep holding on. Well I don't know if Alan John's something to look forward to, you know? Yeah. I've got tickets for two concerts that have just been delayed and delayed and delayed, and I'm like, well, I love this artist, so I'm just going to keep holding on. Well, I don't know if Alan John's going to be around by the time I've still got tickets to see him when he's meant to be coming back. We saw him coughing and wheezing his way through his second show here, didn't we?

Yeah. Oh, sad. He can't get a new IQ spot. He's on there every week trying to book it. He's sitting in the lobby, isn't he, old Alton? It's just me and my piano. Yeah. That's all I need.

Oh, piano man. And Madonna, she was on Jimmy Fallon's show and spoke a bit about the movie roles that she's turned down in the past and the ones that she regretted and one major, major one. Myth or rumor, you turned down the role of Catwoman in the film Batman Returns and the lead in Showgirls you turned down.

Did you ever see those movies and what did you think of them? I saw them both. I regret that I turned down Catwoman. Showgirls you turned down. Did you ever see those movies and what did you think of them? I saw them both. I regret that I turned down Catwoman. Showgirls, no. But I also turned down the role in The Matrix. Can you believe that? Seriously.

Madonna, you don't regret anything. You don't regret anything. Look at you. A teeny tiny part of me regrets just that one moment in my life. She could have been on The Matrix. I'm terrified of Madonna I think she'd be the kind of lady that if she was in the room you could say something at any moment and Madonna could roast you well she got up

on Jimmy Fallon's desk and sort of kind of flashed the audience I guess I I was like, Madonna, please. Is she your grandmother? Is she your grandmother? Kids had, I think so. She looks incredible, doesn't she? Yeah, she does. I mean, my grandmother's up there on the desk at the Ryman buddy. Getting it out for everyone to see. Oh, God. My nana.

Please. She didn't say what role, like what character it was, but people are thinking it was the role of Trinity, who was played by Carrie-Anne Moss. It probably would have been, right? It probably would have been. She was one of the leads. But I was thinking,

has Madonna even really acted? But I mean, she kind of has. I haven't seen many. She was in a Guy Ritchie film as well. Yeah, Evita as well. I don't know why I know Evita for some reason. It was like a musical, wasn't it? Yeah, don't cry for me.

Argentina's from that song. So she was in a few, a league of their own, Body of Evidence, Swept Away. Do any of those ring a bell to you? I can't say I've ever seen a McDonald movie. Swept Away was when she was married to Guy Ritchie and they did that movie together. And I don't think it was, you know. Oh, he felt obliged. She was like, put me in a movie.

I think it was kind of panned a wee bit, but yeah. I don't know. These days everything's panned, right? Yeah, exactly. And that's your spy update for this morning. That's thanks to McDonald's. You can download the app to play the Monopoly game at Macca's. After 8 o'clock on the show,

we're going to talk to the head of the teachers union, aren't we? There's a lot of questions that are going around at the moment after yesterday's news. I've got one for him. Two plus two. Well, yeah, okay. I'm sure he can answer that one. Talking about teachers having to be vaccinated to teach next year.

How are the teaching community feeling about this? What's going to happen to kids in Auckland? In all seriousness, there's a lot of anxiety from both students and parents, I think, about the return to school and where school is for the remainder of this year. Hopefully we'll get some answers after 8 o'clock. It is the hits. Jod on, Ben.

Welcome to Two Half-Assed Dads Do a Half-Assed Job. Official title, Jono and Ben, New Zealand's Breakfast. It is the hits, Jono and Ben. The world is very excited about a new album from Adele. It's coming out very soon. Woo-hoo! And I'm pretty excited. That was Juliet with the world's reaction to Adele's new record.

I use Adele every morning, actually, and it's the password, the computer, where it actually is Adele computer. It's very shaky, isn't it? You have to keep typing in the password multiple times. Anyway, that's not a problem for Adele. I'm sure you don't have to log into Adele every time you want to talk to her. But you did get some audio of her. She was being fired questions from the internet.

The always sensible and always reliable internet. She's pretty cool Adele. Like she's, she's really relatable. She got asked some random questions and she came up with some great answers. Here's a quick montage of some of her answers about questions from the internet. Am I going to collab with Peppa Pig? No.

My favorite thing to do during lockdown was drink wine. Obviously. What's my body count? What does that mean? EastEnders any day over cory i don't think i can legally adopt you know sorry my favorite crisp is prawn cocktail walkers or just ready salted walkers with loads of worcester sauce on it boys boys i'm on instagram live boys come on of course i love turkey yes i'm excited'm excited for Beyonce's next album. Are you mad? I'm spiced at Nando's is medium.

Oh, someone's called him unvaccinated. Oh, my go-to brunch. She's pretty cool, eh? She's so, yeah, very relatable, you know? Like, you wouldn't know that that was Adele. No, it sounds like my mate's mum who smoked Benz and Edges for about 32 years. Boys, I'm on Instagram.

Turkey, of course I love turkey. What's she got against collabing with Peppa Pig? Oh, yeah. What's her issue with the Notorious P.I.G.? She doesn't like Peppa Pig. Maybe he's a bit too greedy with the royalties. Who knows? So there you go.

Adele's album. When's that out, Chu? I think the first song is out this Friday. I think that's just the first song, but I don't know about the album. I tell you what, the hit's uterus Is juggling with excitement At Adele's new album Imagine how hard We're going to be playing Adele

I know Pink's going to have to Sit on the benches For a couple of weeks We're going to be Adele-ing you hard I can't wait If you don't like

Adele's new album Well we'll make you like it And then hate it Within the space of a fortnight Because you'll hear it so much You're essential listening For non-essential banter. I thought I was saying something meaningful there and then I backed out.

Jono and Ben, New Zealand breakfast. Now we talk about my dog, Bo. Quite a lot on the show. I've got a big, white, fluffy dog. You say he's like a sort of cloud with legs. Yeah, a giant cloud. A big old goofy cloud. Bo, I remember it was quite sad.

Fat shamed when we were working by a vet. He grabbed a clump of his fat and sort of shook it in front of you. And he's like, hmm. He did, yeah. That's right. Like me during lockdown. Grab a clump of it and just shake your head. My dog is always white and goofy.

Kind of like you, Jono. You're very much like you. But yeah, the dog, we love our dog, Bo. And Bo loves the family. But I think he does love food probably most of all. And I don't want to shame the dog because he's not here to talk about himself. But I've seen him eat some things that even Fairfax contestants would go, oh, we couldn't do this.

Nothing's off limits for dogs. Yeah. Sometimes you're like, don't, oh, don't. Oh, they are. Yeah. Yeah. Which must be such a free and easy way to live. I could eat anything I'm looking at right now or give it my best shot. Yeah, like he's eaten a whole platter in the time it took for us to walk from the kitchen to the front door and back.

You know, like we had a platter, guests were coming over and he ate the whole thing. A couple of cheeses, a couple of crackers, you know, but he's not all fine dining, you know. He'll eat anything, as I said before. But yesterday I was at home and I was eating some grapes and suddenly it's like, oh, it's my old mate Bo just hanging around. And I was like, oh, should I give him a grape? And then I'm like, well, maybe I should check it. Should Google if it's okay.

Apparently it's a big no-no. For grapes? Even a single grape for a dog is really bad, so I'm glad I Googled it. But I'm like, the dog... What will happen to a dog if they eat a single grape? Basically it contains toxic compounds, so it will cause them vomiting sometimes.

It can lead to kidney failure and even death from a single grape in some dogs. So I'm like, the dog has eaten again, but a single grape. Yeah, like the things you've seen, but think of the darkest thing you've seen your dog eat. I had to pull a sock out from behind one of the kid's socks when he was little because he ate a sock. That didn't cause him any issues.

It took issues passing through the other side, and I had to go out there with some gloves Oh my gosh, you had to retrieve it. You had to retrieve half the sock. He was like he had an extra tail. But he had a crack at a sock, but he couldn't. Not one grape. One grape one grape says kryptonite he was he was up for it but i was like well hang on no i've googled it and you can actually google and there's something i thought well if anyone else has got dogs obviously chocolates are no go for dogs i think a lot of people know that no you know no

cake no chocolate cake it's like it's like yeah and they're also uh avocado and onion as well i've heard as well. Onion is bad. No coffee, no alcohol. Dogs basically sound like a real boring person, don't they? Oh, no, I don't eat coffee. I don't have alcohol. I don't have avocado.

Like bloody gluten-free Ben Humphrey. He's always a nightmare to go out to lunch with, isn't he? Yeah, and even a bone. Like the most cliche of dog, you know, give a dog a bone. Dog treats. It's like, well, you can't give a cooked bone to a dog. Oh dog dog treats it's like well you can't give a cooked bone to a dog yeah it's like in splinter i'm like jeez but this dog as you said before my dog would eat anything they don't know they don't they're not going to the park and the other dogs are offering

up a solo and i'll be like oh no thanks i'm taking it easy on the old waistline this month they'll go into it i remember jen my wife her dog her family used to have a dog. Henry, he was a beagle. Cute. Very cute, but jeez, they like eating, the beagles. They're led by their noses. And we went out the back, it was Christmas Day, and the dog had eaten the entire Christmas cake. It looks like, you know when you see those photos on the internet

of a python that swallowed an elephant or something? And you can just see the shape of the elephant. It was like that. You could see the square shape of the christmas cake in his stomach and he was literally on his back with legs in the air for about four days just letting like i've got a cake from 2002 i'm still working through he did it in 10 minutes and he was just sitting there just waiting for his body to work it through the system oh there you go well if you got a dog there's some big no-nos but then don't leave it to the dog because they will they'll they'll go

nuts they don't care they've got no concern for their own safety do they they're proud of new zealand if only new zealand was proud of that channel and ben new zealand's breakfast on the hits we're rewarding the unsung heroes of the community, aren't we, with Hello Fresh at the moment. You can nominate someone who's been a bit of a legend during these troubled, troubled, crazy, crazy times. They are crazy times. I started the show saying, crazy, crazy times, bro. They are crazy times. Yeah, and you can nominate...

Unprecedented crazy times, really, haven't they been? I like the word unprecedented as well, but you can head to the hits.co.nz, nominate someone who you know, who you work with, you live with, whatever, in your life, who's just been a rock-solid individual through this period. You know, an unsung hero. I don't know, have you ever met a hero who is singing? It's not their forte. Singing's not their thing, otherwise they wouldn't be a hero.

You know, none of the Avengers are breaking out into song, are they? But they're probably sung heroes. We all recognise them, don't we? What if you're a hero that can sing? I mean, you're a double threat, aren't you? You could be a sung hero. Yeah, by day, I'll save the town from devastation. By night, you can find me in the karaoke bar, okay?

Singing bloody Sweet Caroline or something by Neil Diamond. But yeah, today's nominee has been nominated by his wife for some stuff that he's doing around the house. His name is Marius. We'll go through to him. Hello, Marius speaking. Hello, Marius. How are you, mate?

Oh, I'm awesome. How are you? It's your good friends, Jono and Ben here from the Hits radio station. Oh, awesome. How are you guys? Yeah, good. How's the friendship going between us all?

Oh, I think it's good. Yeah, it feels good. We feel like we're in a good space with you, Marius. How are you going this morning? I can feel the warmth as well. It's good. Yeah, great stuff. Well, Marius, you've been nominated. Oh, okay. For being a lockdown legend.

Your wife has not nominated you. Sounds like you're doing so much at the moment during lockdown. Oh, yeah, just keeping myself busy, looking after the little one, cleaning the house, doing the dishes, cooking food. A little bit of everything, I suppose. Well, we know what you've been doing. You've been playing dolls with your daughter, cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day.

Your ginger nut cookies are to die for. You're doing all the washing, getting the groceries for your friends, your neighbours, yourself. You're dropping meals. You're dropping your ginger nuts everywhere. You've been a hero, we understand. Yeah, I suppose you can call me the Marius 2021 model. I like this upgrade.

I like it. Well, we want to reward you for everything you're doing and say thank you so much from HelloFresh. And basically two weeks of HelloFresh is going to be delivered to you, so you've got two weeks of meals you don't have to worry about. Oh, that's absolutely awesome. Thank you so much, guys. I do appreciate it very much.

That's absolutely fine, Marius, and we'll have to try one of your ginger nuts one day, my friend. Yeah, I'll bake you guys some. Yeah, what I find with your ginger nuts, it's almost like eating rocks from a quarry. Yeah, I can see why you dip it. My mum loves dipping them into a cup of tea because you need to soften them up a little bit.

You do. Mine melts in your mouth. Oh, okay. Or you're not coming in with rock hard ginger nuts. No, no, no, they're soft and juicy. Well, that's good. And I feel like I've taken us to territory that we didn't need. Yeah, we're not.

We're not there. But yeah, you're right. Your commercial ginger nut, Benjamin, it does require a layer of moisture, doesn't it? But well done, Marius. You enjoy that HelloFresh. And congratulations on being a wonderful husband and a lockdown legend.

Awesome. Thank you so much, guys. You guys have a good week. We will. And if you want to nominate someone, you can head to thehits.co.nz. And thanks to HelloFresh, we could be hooking them up on the hits. Another day at home with the kids. Did you tip? It's called parenting, not babysitting. Jono and Ben.

New Zealand's breakfast. A little bit of a slip up in the bathroom there before. Not literally Ben Boyce, not a health and safety issue. But bumped into Vaughan Smith from the ZDM Breakfast Show. Now Vaughan was, he was washing his hands at the time, and I engaged in conversation.

As you do. We're actually a distance wearing a mask, I hope. Yes, we're both wearing masks. We were. What are we going to do? The narc? We're going to phone the government narc line? Emailing the... Name and shave me at the 1pm press conference today. Bogs his email with his CEO company.

Okay, yeah, good. But I made the fatal mistake of engaging in conversation, but then going into the rest room, the two by one metre cubicle, and then I continued on the conversation. And it was about annual leave. And I could tell he was like, oh, okay, we're going here, are we? And then he awkwardly had to stay in the vicinity to finish the conversation while I was in there.

And he's like, I know what's going on in there, but you're still talking to me. You're a bathroom chatter, aren't you? Yeah. No one ever feels comfortable with the bathroom, do they? It's never a free-flowing conversation. Well, things are free-flowing. I find there's never a comfortable chat, especially about annual leave. When did you get into annual leave?

He brought it up. He said, oh, you had last Friday off. I was like, oh, yeah, I'm going to try and take off this Friday too. And then as I was walking in, I got engaged and I'm like, well, I've made a rod for my back here. I'm going to have to finish this chat. It would be rude of me not to. You didn't have to think of just finishing it before you went in there.

Anyway, you know, you could have just easily finished the chat. All right, have a great day. And then, you know. I apologize to Vore. Anyway, have a great day. You out there. We'll catch you tomorrow from 6 o'clock. Want more Jono and Ben?

You can wake up with the boys' weekdays from 6 on The Hits. And via the iHeartRadio app. Jono and Ben on The H wake up with the boys' weekdays from sex on The Hits and via the iHeartRadio app. Jono and Ben on The Hits Breakfast. Friends of Skinny.